In London, Scab Ken Livingston will push the cash fare for a single zone 1 Tube trip from £3 to £4 next year, while the cash fare for a single bus will rise to £2 - a 33 per cent increase.
For Londoners on low incomes higher cash fares could mean public transport becomes unaffordable.
For Londoners on low incomes higher cash fares could mean public transport becomes unaffordable.
In a move clearly designed to force people to use the so-called "Oyster smartcard", Oyster fares for single journeys have been frozen.
Card fares will remain £1 on all buses, and - depending on the zones - between £1.50 and £5.50 on the Tube.
It means that on many journeys, cash fares will be double those charged on Oyster. On the Undergroud, the difference between single cash and Oyster journeys could be as much as £2.50.
Brian Cooke, chairman of travel watchdog London TravelWatch, said he was "extremely disappointed" at the cash fair increase.
"There are still not adequate facilities for visitors and tourists to buy Oyster cards easily, so this will really hit hard. London is already an expensive city - it has now become even more expensive for visitors to the city," he said.
"If cash fares will continue rising, it is imperative that buying Oyster cards from elsewhere in the country and internationally is made much easier. Otherwise, people will just be priced off the tube and buses altogether and might think twice about coming to London."
Other fare increases, to kick in next January, include:
Bus cash fares rise by 33% from £1.50 to £2.
The Oyster off-peak fare on buses will rise from 80p to £1.
The Oyster one day cap remains £3, which means card users will never pay more than £3 no matter how many trips they take on a day. Its cash equivalent, the One Day Bus Pass, is frozen at £3.50.
On the Tube, the daily Oyster cap remains 50p below the One Day Travelcard price.
Travelcards will rise by inflation plus 2%.
The Weekly Bus Pass increases in line with inflation from £13.50 to £14.
From next Easter, under-16s with Oyster will pay 50p on the Underground.
But in a new scrutiny report on transport fares, the London Assembly warns: "For Londoners on low incomes higher cash fares could mean public transport becomes unaffordable."
Low income groups make out 25% of London's population of 8 million, but only 12% of Oyster pay-as-you journeys, the transport consultant Colin Buchanan told the assembly.
It was unclear why Oyster take-up is slower among the poor, but the assembly called for more research.
The report also pointed out that there is no public consultation on fare increases in London, unlike Paris and New York. "Londoners should be able to have a say on such developments," the assembly said.
Despite the hike in cash fares, the mayor said the increase in bus fares overall is two thirds less than he promised initially.
In 2004, Mr Livingstone announced that bus fares would rise by 10% above inflation for three subsequent years. However, due to "efficiency savings" the third increase will be restricted to 3.8% above inflation, he said.
Still, the increases caused an outcry among the Conservatives, who accused the mayor of "over-paying" bus companies while Londoners foot the bill.
In June Stagecoach sold its two London bus services to the Australian investment bank Macquarie for £263 million. Of that, £120 million was profit - an 83% return on the bus firm's investment.
"With the average load of a bus just 15 passengers, you have to ask why we are paying bus companies to run empty buses," said Roger Evans, transport spokesman of the London Assembly Conservatives.
"At a time when the cash fare has risen from £1.50 to £2.00, it is not fair on Londoners that the mayor is lining the pockets of investment banks."
Card fares will remain £1 on all buses, and - depending on the zones - between £1.50 and £5.50 on the Tube.
It means that on many journeys, cash fares will be double those charged on Oyster. On the Undergroud, the difference between single cash and Oyster journeys could be as much as £2.50.
Brian Cooke, chairman of travel watchdog London TravelWatch, said he was "extremely disappointed" at the cash fair increase.
"There are still not adequate facilities for visitors and tourists to buy Oyster cards easily, so this will really hit hard. London is already an expensive city - it has now become even more expensive for visitors to the city," he said.
"If cash fares will continue rising, it is imperative that buying Oyster cards from elsewhere in the country and internationally is made much easier. Otherwise, people will just be priced off the tube and buses altogether and might think twice about coming to London."
Other fare increases, to kick in next January, include:
Bus cash fares rise by 33% from £1.50 to £2.
The Oyster off-peak fare on buses will rise from 80p to £1.
The Oyster one day cap remains £3, which means card users will never pay more than £3 no matter how many trips they take on a day. Its cash equivalent, the One Day Bus Pass, is frozen at £3.50.
On the Tube, the daily Oyster cap remains 50p below the One Day Travelcard price.
Travelcards will rise by inflation plus 2%.
The Weekly Bus Pass increases in line with inflation from £13.50 to £14.
From next Easter, under-16s with Oyster will pay 50p on the Underground.
But in a new scrutiny report on transport fares, the London Assembly warns: "For Londoners on low incomes higher cash fares could mean public transport becomes unaffordable."
Low income groups make out 25% of London's population of 8 million, but only 12% of Oyster pay-as-you journeys, the transport consultant Colin Buchanan told the assembly.
It was unclear why Oyster take-up is slower among the poor, but the assembly called for more research.
The report also pointed out that there is no public consultation on fare increases in London, unlike Paris and New York. "Londoners should be able to have a say on such developments," the assembly said.
Despite the hike in cash fares, the mayor said the increase in bus fares overall is two thirds less than he promised initially.
In 2004, Mr Livingstone announced that bus fares would rise by 10% above inflation for three subsequent years. However, due to "efficiency savings" the third increase will be restricted to 3.8% above inflation, he said.
Still, the increases caused an outcry among the Conservatives, who accused the mayor of "over-paying" bus companies while Londoners foot the bill.
In June Stagecoach sold its two London bus services to the Australian investment bank Macquarie for £263 million. Of that, £120 million was profit - an 83% return on the bus firm's investment.
"With the average load of a bus just 15 passengers, you have to ask why we are paying bus companies to run empty buses," said Roger Evans, transport spokesman of the London Assembly Conservatives.
"At a time when the cash fare has risen from £1.50 to £2.00, it is not fair on Londoners that the mayor is lining the pockets of investment banks."
Comments
Hide the following 10 comments
Stupidity tax
15.09.2006 11:45
If people are too stupid, lazy, or disorganised to get themselves an Oyster card it's difficult to sympathise.
No one need pay these fare rises if they just got off their arses, stopped whingeing and got teh card. You can get them from any tube station, and many of newagents and corner shops. There is a small deposit that is refundable. You will make the deposit money back after a couple of tube journeys anyway.
You can put small amounts of money on it with cash so there is no barrier to lower income people. You don't need a bank account, a credit card, or anything like that.
It certainly takes less effort to get an Oyster card than it does to write a whining letter to the Evening Standard.
Also some of the increased revenue is being used to subsidise free and reduced travel for children which has to be a good thing. It's free to travel on the buses if you are under 16.
I got Oyster last year and have never looked back - it's simpler, cheaper and more flexible. Some people just don't want anything new and just look for reasons to bash Ken Livingstone. I don't agree with everything he has done but you can't argue that Oyster is anything other than a huge benefit to London and Londoners. I bet all the media people moaning about fares never use public transport anyway.
Mercury Kev
the stupidity tax is...
15.09.2006 13:14
sid
It's not just about the cash increases
15.09.2006 13:41
Oyster = surveillance
Oysters can be bought anonymously, right?
15.09.2006 16:38
hang on
Anonymous Oyster
15.09.2006 20:09
You can register your Oyster card in order to protect yourself if it gets lost or stolen, then you can report it and they block the card to stop someone else using your money. But as far as I know that is optional.
So chill out people! It's just a way of travelling around London cheaper and easier. Not everything's a sinister plot by Big Brother you know!
Mercury Kev
Anonymous?...well sort of.
15.09.2006 21:58
Err no, not at the moment. But you know how this mission creep works...
Firstly, next time you swip your card at the barrier, look up. Your swipe is timed, and so is the video recording your swipe (it only has no tape if you need it for your evidence, otherwise it seems to work OK...)
Secondly, you can buy the card anonymously at the moment - in fact most corner shops prefer that as it's less paperwork. But when everyone's got one (because it makes so much sense and it's so much better value) "something" will happen that means that national security needs you to use your new ID card to get one.
The only consolation is that everything the State touches to do with computers fucks up. For the first time ever I'd prefer them to lose another couple of billion than get it right...
crosspatch
Transport users are being trained
15.09.2006 23:54
Where was the consultation with public transport users? What about the old who have enough difficulty already coping with the changes of technology anyway? Is this symptomatic of the death of public transport? Public transport should remain in public hands AND it should be free anyway. Business benefits the most from having a large mobile workforce at its disposal so make business pick up the tab.
don't trust Livingstone
Technology for the 'old'
16.09.2006 07:44
In fact, pensioners have an even simpler situation because all public transport is free for over 60s in London. They just apply for the card (exactly as before Oyster) and then use it for ever. They never even have to put money on it.
Mercury Kev
"oyster" more like bigbrother
17.09.2006 10:50
i know of at least one incident where the police have took a oyster card of a sixthformer who they suspected of a crime so they could use it to determine where he'd been. he was left at the bus stop with no means to get to school apart from walk miles.
the reason for the oyster cards and reason why they are trying to force everyone to use one has to be the valuable data that they can accrue on people. a database of where different groups of people go and when is a useful tool. this data will then be and already has been used by government agencies but it will also almost certainly end up on the open market for any company to use. they will justify it by saying its to target advertising or security or whatnot, but it also infringes on peoples right to privacy and is another step towards the bigbrother society that the uk seems hellbent on creating.
rocket
RMT union Bob Crow must withdraw backing for Livingstone's Crossrail
21.09.2006 21:43
khoodeelaaronline
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